Hosiery and method of making the same



Feb. 25, 1947. G, F,'| ANG 2,416,331

\ HOSIERY AND METHOD oF MAKING THE SAME 2 Sheets-Sheet l A, l l

Patented Feb. 25, 1947 -v HOSIERY AND METHOD OF MAKING vTHE SAME George F. Lang, Jenkintown, Pa. Application October 16, 1944, Serial No. 558,893

Y (o1. cfs-184) Claims.

The present invention relates to full-length womens hosiery and particularly to sheer hosiery for womens wear.

In the past, full-length hosiery for womens wear has been one of two Well recognized types, namely, what has been known as full fashioned hosiery, on the one hand, and what has vbeen known as seamless hosiery, on the other hand. The full fashioned hosiery, as is well known,

` has been made by knitting both body or leg portion as Well as the footportion (including heel and toe) in a iiat condition eitheron the same flat-knitting machine or on two successive flat-knitting machines, that is, on machinesin which the bank or row of knitting needles is in general a straight line, and thereafter seaming up the flat-knit leg and foot and generally also the flat-knit welt portion at theupper end of the leg portion by a seam running vertically along the back of the stocking where the two sewage-edges of the at-knit stocking are brought together. This seaming operation is generally done on a sewing-machine type niachine, and results in a bead-like seam which extends down the back of the welt,leg, ankle and heel and extends along the bottom of the heel and foot and sometimes also along the bottom of the toe-portion.

While the full fashioned type Wcmens stocking has the very desirable feature of being Well shaped in respect to the calf of the leg, which shaping is not as well achieved in seamless circular-knit stockings, yet such full fashioned hosiery has the disadvantage of having a seam in the tread zone of the foot or beneath the foot of the wearer; making for an uncomfortable feeling, and sometimes causing undesirable irritation. i '1 The seamless hosiery, or what is generally known as circular-knit hosiery, has the, advantage of having no seam along the bottomlof the foot or in the tread-zone of the foot, but has'the disadvantage of not being as well shaped in 'respect to the thigh, calf and ankle Zones of the leg. The object of the present invention is to so construct a full length hose, that, through it, full shape-conformance at vthe thigh, calf and ankle zones may be achieved, while, at the same time, eliminating the objectionable bead-like seam in the tread-zone of the foot, and also in creasing the durability and strain-resistance of the hose.

With the above objects in view, the present invention contemplates a hose which, though integral in the fullest sense of that term (as that term may apply to the now conventional fullfashioned hosiery) is truly fashioned or shaped in the thigh, calf and ankle Zones, is seamed in said zones, and is devoid of any seam in the tread-#Zone of the toot and is reinforced in the back by sewn Stitches in continuation of the' seam.

For the purpose of illustrating the present invention, there is shown in the accompanying drawings forms thereof which` are at present preferred, althoughr it is ytobe understood that the yvarious'instrumentalities of which the in# vention consists can ,be variously arranged and organized and that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and organizations of Figure -3 represents a perspective View ofthe body or leg portion of Figure 2, with the terminal course of freel loops thereof at its lower end `brought into a circle and facing upwardly as they would be facing when appliedv or transferred .to a circle of needles of'a circular-knitting machine, as in the method of the present inven.

tion, rand showing also the foot as knitted onto said terminal coursecf'free loops upon such circular-knitting machine. Figure 4 represents a section (schematically shown) on line li-4 -of Figure 1 or on line 4f- 4 ofv Figure 6. y a A AFigure 5 represents a fragmentary portion of the lower end-portion of the flat-knit leg similar to that of Figure 2, illustrating a modiiied embodiment of my present invention, inwhich the dat-knitting is carried down further, namely, tothe upper edge of the heel, and includes fiatknit high splice portions. ,Y

Figurer 6 represents a fragmentaryview, similar to-that shown in Figure 3, in which the flat-l knit 1eg, including the flat-'knit high splice,l portions, is joined directly to the circular-knitted heel portion.V Y l By the method of the present invention, the

leg portion designated generally by the numery al (which may or may not also include thewelt portion E) is knitted, in a at condition, upon any conventional (or other) full-fashioned flatknitting machine, with the at form shaped or fashioned by varying the number of needles included in the successive knitted courses, or by dropping out needles, as shown by what are commonly known as narrowing marks 1 along lines spaced more or less inwardly from the selvage-edges S-a and i-b of the flat-knit form be to scale, and that the rows of narrowing marks 'I are shown somewhat enlarged imerelyv l for purposes of more ready illustration.

Some (more or less) of the. ankle-zoneor of knitted ilat (on the nat-knitted machine), in

after the last narrowing point 'l nearest the botright along in the flat-knittingv operation, and the nat-knitting stopped off at a point which includes some or all of the portion 9, with or withoutincluding the portion 2i?.

the ankle-zone B is plain, downto the heel I5, l l as in the embodiment shown in Figures l and 3, the flat-knitting may be stopped oir at the'line the generally uniform-circumferenced Vzone 9, that is, the zone where there is generally no 1 change in the number of needles or wales or in g the width of the fiat-knit portion, may also be 1 direct continuation of or as a part of the lowerl most narrowed portion of the leg or body portion 5. Thus, the nat-knitting may be l stopped oi directly (or within a course or two) tom of the stocking-or any number of courses i of the uniform-width portion 9 may be knitted Thus, where Figures land 3, the balance of thergene'rally Y uniform-circumferenced portion 9 is thereafter knitted circularly, down to the heel-line 2l, andV lare seamed up, as is also the welt E, to form a back seam I3. The welt e may be flat-knit,

along with the body, and seamed together byv the seam I3, or it may be circular-lernt (separate- `ly) and then looped onto the top course of the seamed body 5.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 3, the back-seam i3 is preferably also extended somewhat below the juncture-line ill, intok proximity of the top of the heel it, namely, into proximity of the point i5, or down the back of the heel I6 to approximately the pointl it,y so as to give continuity to threads of the back-seam i3, across the juncture between the last flat-knit course and the rst circular-knit'course, and so to reinforce the back of the hose against pull from above. The seam i3 (in'li'ignres l and 3) from the point ld to the point i5 (or to the point i8, to whichever point it is extended),-

will, of course, be a mock seam, but will serve not only to carry the seam through to the heel i6' (or even down to the point i8 of the back of the heel), but will also serve to increase durability vof the composite hose because the seaming threads will'not be stopped at a point where the true seam joining edges S-a and t-bends, but will I4, while where a high-splice typeback is del sired in the ankle-zone 9, as in Figures 5 and 6, the nat-knitting is'carried throughto the line 2|, and includes the two high-splice portions (22e-aand ZZ-b) adjacent to the selvage-edges (8-a and B-b) of the flat-knit leg or body 5; in which high-splice? embodiment of my present invention the flat-knit legf or body is then pressed-olf at line 2|,'instead of at linelld asin the plain form of Figures 1 and 3.

d The terminal row or course of flat-knitted loops li)v (Figures 2 and 5) is then pressed-off and reor an articulated transfer bar in which the transfer-points-or pins can be held in straight alignment while the terminal loops i!! (Figures 2 and 5) are being picked '0H the needles of the flatknitting machine and then the transfer bar may l be bent into a circle to correspond with the i needle-circle'of the circular knitting machine l 1 ontowhich the loops l0 are transferred from the Y l transfer'bar.'

The nat-knitting is preferably brought down to l a number.' of wales and terminal loops It! more 3 or less equal to the number of needles in the circle of the circular-knitting machine, so that when the nat-knit portion is transferred, the 1 1 loopsil will take'up every (or generally every) l needle -of the circle ofthe circular-knitting machine, and the two terminal loops l IS7-b ofthe course of free Iiia and jacent `to eachother.

YIn th'ef embodiment of Ymy invention shown in loops lll will beadl extend substantially below the point where the true seam ends, and will also create thickened or bead-like line; of reinforcement down the back from I4 to i5 (or I8) to absorb and distribute the pull transmitted;downwardly from the back of the leg.

While in the drawings, as, for instance,at H .in Figures 1 and 3, and at 2l in Figure 6, a circle has been shown to indicate the juncture between the last nat-knit course or the terminal row of flat-knit lo0ps Ii! and the first course of circular-y knit loops, suoh a circle is not actually visible in the iinished product, because the same yarn, gauge and tension is used on both machines.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in Figures 5 and 6, the terminal-course of loops l0 (pressed ofi' on the flat-knitting machine) being at the lower line 2i, receive, as the iirst course of circular-knitted'loops (on the circular-knitting machine, after transfer thereto) the circular-knitted course which includes also the' first course ofthe heel l5 (in that portion of the line 2| which is designated by the reference ZI-h), and thefoot Il, 'including the heel i6 and the toe 23, are then circular-,knitted onto said terminal-course of loops i9, at the juncture-line 2l", which, in this embodiment of my inventiong-is also the heel-linetof the hose. The opening H in the toe 23 is similarly looped together along a seam-line like the seam line l2 in Figure 1. In the embodiment of my invention shown in Figures 5 and 6, the same yainis used inthe high-splice portions ZEfa and 22-h (in the fiat-knitting operation) as is used inthe heel portion I 6 (of the circular-knitting operation), s0 that, in this embodiment of the present in;- vention, there will'be no appreciable line visible alongthe line indicated (for purposes tof illustra.` tion in the drawings) .at 2l nor at 2 l-h, .andthe upper half of the heel I6 Will appear integral with the high-splice portions Z22-a and 22-b.

In the practice of my above-described method, I may use any full-fashioned spring-beard needle legger knitting machine, as for instance the Reading full-fashioned legger, or Karl Lieberknecht full-fashioned legger, or the "Schubert 8i Salzer full-fashioned legger, or the like, for the flat-knitting operation to `produce the first stage or phase represented generally in Figure 2, and may use any suitable spring-beard needle type or latch-needle type circular and foot-knitting machine, such as', for example, the Scott & Williams seamless hosiery machine or the Wildman seamlessA hosiery machine or the Hemphill seamless hosiery machine, for the second stage o-r phase of my method, to form the foot i1 in direct continuation of the leg or body of Figure 2 or of Figure 5.

The flat-knitting of the leg or body of Figure 2 may be 42,45, 48, 51, 54 or 57 gauge; that is With 28, 30, 32, 34, 36 or 38 needles-perinch, respectively.

The circular or seamless machine onto which the terminal-course of free loops l0 is transferred is provided With substantially the same number of needles as the number of needles which were operative or active in the terminalcourse lil on the nat-knitting machine, and with substantially the same spacing per inch. Thus, for example, in knitting the leg" or body as shown in Figure 2, or as shown in Figure 5, in 51 gauge, and starting with a 'i4-inch head and terminating in a 9-inch Width in the terminal-course I0, the seamless circular machine should have 306 needles in its cylinder and of generally the same spacing per inch, so that the circumference of the needle circle or the effective circumference of the cylinder will be 9 inches with 306 needles uniformly spaced around such circumference (the diameter being approximately 9 divided by 3.1416). As another illustration I may use an'apprcximately 3-inch cylindered circular and foot-knitting springbeard or latch-needle machine, with 276 or 280 needles, for 'the second stage of my method; for 48 to 54 gauge.

Thus, the number of needles in the cylinder of the seamless circular-knitting machine will be more or less equal to the number of courses in the terminal-course ill, and the diameter will be the width of the needle bank in the terminalcourse l0 divided by 3.1416: f

For a seaming operation at I3, I may use any suitable Z-thread (or "2end) or any suitable S-thread (or 3-end) seeming machine, such as the 2-end Union Special (No. 41,200) hosiery seamer or the S-end Union Special (No. ll1,300 hosiery seamer.

By my invention, a truly full-fashioned fulllength hose, and particularly sheer full-fashioned hose of silk, rayon, nylon or similar filaments may be formed which will have no seam nor any thickening or enlargement or bead-like line at the bottom of the foot or in the tread-Zone I9 of the foot I'l, and which, at the same time will be fully reinforced along the back vertical median line.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiments be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claims rather than tothe foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what; AI claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is: l

1. The method of making sheer full-fashioned hosiery which includes flat-knitting the leg p0rtion or body of the stocking including the Welt on spring-beard knitting-needles, with opposed selvage edges extending generally Wale-Wise and varying the number of Wales in successive courses to vary the Width of the flat-knit body and terminating same in a course of free loops with, a number of wales or loops in said terminal-course generally that of the more or less uniformcircumferenced portion at and immediately abo 'e the ankle zonaremoving said terminal-course of free loops from the straight row or" knitting needles or the dat-knitting machine and disposing thein generally in a circle and transferring them to a circular-knitting machine of generally the same gauge as that or the flat-knitting machine upon which the leg was flat-knit and adapted to knit circularly and to knit heel,rfoot and toe portions, and circularly knitting successive courses in direct continuation of the aforesaid flat-knit,terminal-course of free loops and knitting the heel portion, knitting the foot portion circularly and Without any Wale-Wise seam and knitting the toe, all in continuation of each other and generally integral with each other, and seaming together the opposed selvage-edges oi said body including the Welt, and extending the said seeming stitches Wale-wise across the juncture between the last fiat-knit course and the irst circular-knit course.

`2. Full-fashioned composite sheer hosiery kfor Womens wear, including flat-knit shaped leg portion having gradually varying number of wales in the different zones of the leg andbeing of corresponding varying Widths in different portions of the leg, said flat-knit leg portion extending downwardly to the zone of the leg which is more orless of uniform circumference, and circular knit,I seamless foot joined to the bottom of said nat-knit leg portion withl the lastv nat-knit course of the leg portion and the iirst circularknit course of the foot portion being directly inter-knitted with each other by the rst circular-knit course and forming a continuity Without appreciably visible juncture line, and a seam uniting the opposed edges of said flat-knit leg portion generally at the rear of the hose and extending across the juncture of the flat-knit leg portion and the circular-knit foot portion.

3. Full-fashioned composite sheer hosiery for Womens Wear, including flat-knit shaped leg portion having gradually varying number of Wales in the diierent zones of the leg and being of corresponding varying Widths in different portions of the leg, said flat-knit leg portion extending downwardly to the Zone of the leg which is of more or less uniform circumference, and a circular-knit seamless foot joined to the bottom of said flat-knit leg portion with the last flat-knit course of the leg portion and the rst circularknit course of the foot portion having substantially the same number of Wales therein and being directly inter-knitted With each other by the rst circular-knit course, and a seam uniting the opposed edges of said flat-knit leg portion generally at the rear of the hose and extending across the juncture of the flat-knit leg portion and the circular-knit foot portion and the circular-knit foot portion down to and across the back ofthe heel, to a terminal point in the Vicinity of the tread-portion of the heel; the seaming thread so extending down the back of the heel forming a bead-like or slightly thickened line beneath said juncture in simulation of and in continuation of the seam above said juncture and serving to reinforce the juncture at the lower terminal of the actual seam and serving to pro-` vide a vertical line of reinforcement against vertical pull at the rear of the stocking. l

4. The method of making sheer full-fashioned hosiery which includes flat-knitting the leg por` tion or body of the stocking with opposed selvedge edges extending generally Wale-wise, and varying the number of wales in successive courses to vary the Width of the fiat-knit body, thereby gradually reducing the width of said fiat-knit body to a width generally equal to the circum ference of the more or less 'uniform-circumfer-` enced portion at and immediately above the ankle-zone, flat-knitting the portion of said body corresponding to said ankle-zone and incorporating a heavier yarn in gradually increasing number of ywales immediately adjacent each of the two selvedge edges in successive courses of said narrowed ankle-zone portion ofI said body, down to the heel-line of the hose, with the heavier yarn extending inwardly from each ofthe selvedge edges a total or combined number of Wales in the last flat-knit course more or less the same as the number of wales in the rst course in the subsequently circular-knit heel, pressing on said flat-knit body at said heel-line with a course of free loops, removing said terminal-course of free loops from the straight row of knitting needles of the nat-knitting machine and disposing them generally inv a circle and transferring them to a circular-knitting seamless hosiery machine of generally the same gauge as that of the fiat-knitting machine upon which said body was fiat-knit and adapted to knit circularly and to knit a foot including heel and toe portions, and thereafter knitting heel and instep portions, and toe portions of foot, in direct continuation of the aforesaid flat-knit terminal-course of free loops without any appreciable line of demarcation where the last flatknit course is interknitted with the rst circularknit course and without any Wale-wise seam in the tread-Zone of the foot, with the heel of the same weight yarn and of more or less the same number of wales as that covered by the heavier yarn in the terminal-course of the flat-knit 45 Number body, seaming together the opposed selvedge edges of said body, and extending the seaming stitches across the juncture-line between the last flat-knit course and the rst circular-knit course.Y

5. Full-fashioned sheer composite hosiery for womens wear, including fiat-knit shaped body portion having gradually varying number of wales in the different zones of the body and being of correspondingly varying widths in different portions of the body, said flat-knit body portion extending downwardly to the heel-line, the lowermost portion of said body, having a heavier thread incorporated in a gradually downwardly increasing number of wales adjacent to the selvedge edges thereof, so asfto form gradually widening areasalong said selvedge edges, near the bottom of said body, which will be more wear-resistant, and a circular-knit seamless foot, including heel and toe, joined to the bottom of said flat-knit body portion with the last flat-knit course of the body" portion and the first circular-knit course of the foot portion being directly inter-knitted with each other by the first circular-knit course and formingv a continuity therewith without an appreciably visible juncture-line, said heel having a circumferential extent more or less the same as the circumferential extent of said heavier-yarned portions of the leg and being of generally the same yarn, and a seam uniting the opposed edges of said flat-knit body portion generally at the rear of the hose and extending downwardly across the juncture of the flat-knit body portion and the circular-knit foot portion, forming a mock seam at the back of the heel in direct continuationl of the true seam at the back of the body portion and constituting a reinforcement of the aforesaid juncture.

GEORGE F. LANG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the nie of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Boehme Apr. 10, 1928 McCurdy et al July 25, 1939 Wineskie Dec. 23, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date British 1896 British 1892 Number 

